Monday, March 28, 2016

More Stuffed Squash

It's the time of year when the winter squash stash is waning and overwintered greens are just maybe waxing enough to start harvesting some nibbles. (We don't have any such greens in our garden this year, but last year we did!) What better way to celebrate the start of a new garden season than to take a winter squash and stuff it with some of that new growth? If you liked our stuffed squash boats, you'll probably dig this version, too. (If not, thbbbt!)

Our ingredients: a 2-3 lb Scarlet Kabocha squash, 1 lb ground venison, 1 lb kale, and 1 cup lentils (more than 1 cup pictured here). NOTE: We only needed about a third of that filling to stuff this squash. Also, we had to buy kale from the grocery store! Oh, the humanity...

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the guts, then set the halves cut-side-down in some water on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-30 min until tender.

We got the squash in early November and had it stored in a corner of our
house that was 50-60 °F all winter; it was still in pretty good shape
here at the end of March, but some of the seeds were looking like they
were about to go all Kylo Ren on us (as in, turn to the dark side, not
necessarily fight us with a light saber). The Johnny's Seed catalog
suggests storing this variety at 60-65 °F, so our slightly cooler temps
might have decreased its staying power a bit. Fortunately, the squash
meat was still delicious.

Speaking of meat, while the squash is roasting, start browning up that venison...

...and cooking those lentils.

When the venison is done, put it in a bowl and saute the kale in the frying pan.

When the kale and lentils are also done, add them to the bowl, too.
Season the whole shebang with salt, pepper, garlic powder, green onion
powder, plenty of sage, some lemon pepper, and something labeled Chicago steak seasoning,
to taste. Our proportions were probably 1.5 teaspoons of salt, 0.5
teaspoons each of lemon pepper, and steak seasoning, and 1 tablespoon
each of everything else.

When the squash are done, season them with salt and pepper, too, and stuff them full of the venison-kale-lentil mix. Pile some shredded cheddar cheese on top. Katie says, "Hey! Aren't you going to put cheese on that other one, too?" Maybe if you tell me where you hid the Easter candy!

Found it! :-) Ok, put the squash back in the oven to melt the cheese, like so.

As it turns out, a whole half-squash is more than a serving. Half of a half squash (that's a quarter squash, for the fractionally-challenged) is better, especially when it means we might also have room for buttered toast and fruit salad. The buttery flavor of the squash pairs most excellently with the buttery flavor of the toast. Yum!

There you have it--now you should have no trouble using up your remaining winter squashes before the spring produce starts rolling in! How's your winter squash stash looking?